Articles | Volume 28, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.1144/jm.28.1.1
© Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.Evidence for a possible life-cycle association between Syracosphaera protrudens (heterococcolithophore) and Syracosphaera pulchra HOL pirus-type (holococcolithophore)
Keywords: living coccolithophores, combination coccospheres, Syracosphaera, taxonomy, life cycle
Abstract. An apparently unambiguous combination coccosphere from the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean Sea, Greece) is documented involving Syracosphaera protrudens Okada & McIntyre, 1977 and Syracosphaera pulchra Lohmann, 1902 HOL pirus-type. This finding is difficult to interpret in terms of the current understanding of Syracosphaera taxonomy and adds evidence to the hypothesis of a distinctly complex Syracosphaera pulchra life cycle.